A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important issue. ~Wikipedia
Here’s today’s red herring meme:
First, the wording at the top implies very strongly that every act of terror is carried out by Muslims. By extension, it implies that violence done by anyone who’s not Muslim doesn’t count as an act of terror. Did anyone say “we shouldn’t judge all Muslims on the actions of a few” after the 2015 Planned Parenthood shooting? Absolutely not. That would have been ridiculous, since the shooter was a white dude whose political goals had fuck-all to do with the middle east. Yet it absolutely was an act of terror, and anyone who says differently is giving the perp a pass because of his nationality and/or skin color. There are over 1.5 billion Muslims on the planet. Yes, a handful of them are extremists who are bent on violence. Judging all of them based on the violent ones would be as dumb as judging all 2.4 billion Christians based on the actions of a handful of clinic terrorists. Perhaps unintentionally, perhaps deliberately, our Mr. Meme subtly paints the entire religion of Islam with the same broad brush it’s whining about.
Second, nobody’s judging all gun owners based on terrorists or mass shooters. This is a red herring that muddies up the discussion and leaves rational people with the distinct impression that the gun activists are frantically trying to hide something. Nobody – nobody – has said with any credibility that “we need to disarm all gun owners so they don’t shoot up the place!” People love to feel like they’re being persecuted, for reasons I don’t fully understand. People with tattoos post Facebook memes about being judged for their tattoos, but in reality very few people give a shit about tattoos. Metalheads post Facebook memes about being judged for their taste in music, but in reality very few people give a shit about who listens to which kind of music. Gun owners post Facebook memes whining about being judged for owning guns, but nobody’s really doing that. I’m a gun owner. Nearly everyone I know is a gun owner. Exactly none of us have been suspected or accused of being dangerous psychopaths because somewhere, someone shot some people. The actual issue is that we can’t sit down like adults to discuss how to keep guns out of the hands of people who are crazier than shithouse rats. In a practical sense, scientists and medical professionals aren’t even allowed to study the problem.
So please, if you’re interested in actively doing something to help address the problem, stop saying “Don’t judge all gun owners on the actions of a few!” because nobody’s doing that. Claiming that that’s the problem makes it difficult for us to address the real issue. Instead, let’s hear your ideas for keeping guns out of the hands of irrational, dangerous people, and let’s discuss them. This problem needs more ideas, more discussion, and fewer sound bites/bumper stickers/facebook memes.
Fuggin Bizzy 